ABUJA — Nigerians who take the law into their own hands may soon find themselves facing serious criminal charges as Inspector-General of Police, Tunde Disu, has ordered a nationwide crackdown on jungle justice.
Disu warned that anyone who assaults or kills a suspected criminal through mob action will be treated as a murderer and prosecuted accordingly.
Speaking in a viral video, the police chief declared that jungle justice can no longer be dismissed as community action, stressing that those involved could face the death penalty under Nigerian law.
“Anybody who assaults or summarily executes a suspected criminal in the name of mob action is guilty of murder. And the punishment for murder is death,” Disu stated.»
The IGP further warned that people who incite, organise, record, circulate videos of mob attacks or obstruct police intervention could also face prosecution for conspiracy to commit murder, an offence that carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Disu disclosed that he had directed Commissioners of Police across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to treat every reported case of mob action as homicide and carry out comprehensive investigations using forensic and intelligence tools.
“We are not going to spare anybody who is involved in mob action. We will do a thorough investigation, and we will take them to court,” he said.
The directive comes amid renewed concerns over extrajudicial killings, including the reported death of 25-year-old University of Jos graduate Ibrahim Mbaya, who was allegedly beaten to death after being accused of stealing an iPhone 12.
The Nigeria Police Force subsequently urged Nigerians to hand suspected criminals over to law enforcement authorities rather than resorting to violence.
The message from the police is clear: suspected criminals should face the courts, not mob justice.
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